Tea & Empathy
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education Blog
by wordancerblog
3w ago
Every spring for the last ten years, I’ve offered a Women’s History Challenge to 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders at my school, which is the oldest girls school in New Jersey. The Women’s History Challenge was a research project that required students to read and write about ten different featured women plus one woman of the student’s choice. The girls had six weeks to complete the project independently, and then we celebrated by having a tea party and participating in a quiz show. I wrote about the 2021 Challenge here. I intended last year to be my final year since the colleague who facilitated the ..read more
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Song of Vivian
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education Blog
by wordancerblog
1M ago
This week, I participated in Ethical ELA’s 5-day Open Write and was inspired by Amber Harrison’s prompt – Fill in the Blanks.  This prompt was based on Walt Whitman’s poem, “Song of Myself.” Amber tasked us with writing a poem celebrating someone or something.  Since this week also marks what would have been her 102nd  birthday, I wrote a poem to celebrate my mother, Vivian Victoria – a talented and creative seamstress, and later an inspiring elementary school teacher.  When I try to conjure up my mother’s sweet face, the first thing that comes to mind is her bright red lip ..read more
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The New B.F.G.: Benevolent Female Guide
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education Blog
by wordancerblog
1M ago
 I was heartened to read this week that being an older woman is now trendy.  I am finally in style! No longer invisible, female baby boomers are coming into their own. They are working, creating, and speaking their minds. This was conveyed to me in the Wall Street Journal article, “Are Fashion Brands Finally Catering to Women Over 50?” by Faran Krentcil.  This small, important stance gives me hope.  I still have many productive years ahead of me.  I can continue to teach, write, have opinions. Besides learning about the many mature women in the fashion industry who are ..read more
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What the World Needs Now…
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education Blog
by wordancerblog
1M ago
This week, I’m thinking a lot about love.  First, because it’s February, and Valentine’s Day leads us all to think a little more deeply about love, but also because February has a special meaning to me.  My beloved Grandpa Charlie was born on February 9th,  my husband and I were married on February 10th, and my mother was born on February 25th.  Mom died ten years ago and would have been 102 this year.  Though both my grandfather and mother are no longer with me, their love remains.  Their love keeps me going.  There isn’t a day that goes by in which I don’t ..read more
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Writing Alongside Children
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education Blog
by wordancerblog
1M ago
My first love was listening to stories, and my second love was writing. When I was three years old, I remember making marks on scraps of paper, calling them lists or notes or checks. I imitated the writing I saw. It was full of action. People wrote to get things done. And best of all, people wrote down what they saw in their imaginations. This story writing hooked me. I eventually changed those marks and squiggles into letters and words. It was quite a magical thing, which kept me writing. I loved creating characters and settings and problems I could solve. When I discovered poetry, I realized ..read more
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Writing Full Circle
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education Blog
by wordancerblog
2M ago
This week, my cousin Tina asked me to join her online writing circle, (Drew Writing Project: Digital Literacies Collaborative), to talk about my blogging journey.  When she asked me, I immediately said yes.  Then in the hours right before my talk, I worried that I wouldn’t accurately explain how my blogging life came to be. To explain my journey adequately, I need to pause and describe the journey my cousin and I have taken to become friends.  We are ten years apart in age, I am the older cousin. Our fathers were brothers.  My father is alive and well at the age of almost n ..read more
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Cozy Comfort on Blustery Days
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education Blog
by wordancerblog
2M ago
Winter has arrived in the Garden State!  Temperatures are in the twenties and in the teens with the wind chill factor.  Snow covers the ground and icicles hang from rooftops and railings.  I want to burrow inside and hibernate.  I’m not sure what I would do if I lived in the Midwest or the climes of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. You probably wouldn’t see me till spring!  I like the look of snow and ice, but the feel is a completely different thing.  As long as I’m inside, I enjoy winter.  Weekend winter days allow me to have time to paint, read, write, cook, an ..read more
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January Watercolor
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education Blog
by wordancerblog
2M ago
Our first snow came in the beginning of January and soon rain came to wash it all away.  Then more rain came, so much so, that the local rivers overflowed their banks. The meadow behind my home turned into a rippling river and then into a lake.  A grand flock of Canada geese landed and took a swim.  The five-day forecast is for an arctic blast with temperatures in the single digits for the Garden State.  I imagine that the rain-made lake will freeze and become a skating pond.  A blizzard is surely on its way.  Winter is holding steady.  It grips onto me with ..read more
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First Snow
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education Blog
by wordancerblog
2M ago
It started yesterday afternoon.  Big fat flakes of wondrous snow.  When I see snow falling, I become a child again. A feeling of happiness and hopefulness comes over me.  Memories of mittens, hot cocoa, snowballs, sledding, and snowmen fill my mind. Snow is such a gift.  As we grow older, sometimes those hopeful, happy, care-free dispositions change.  We think of snow as a burden: shoveling, sliding, slipping, and late for work. How can we hold on to the wonderment snow brings?  How can we see snow with the eyes of child again? To keep my positive snow spirit, I v ..read more
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Settling on One Little Word
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education Blog
by wordancerblog
3M ago
I’ve been searching for a new word for the new year.  One little word which will capture how I am moving in the world right now.  I used to move with youthful confidence, quick to react as if my feet were on fire.  As I’ve grown older, I have slowed my pace, calmed my mind a bit, and have tried to be more introspective.  I don’t need to travel outside myself, trying to please everyone.  I can sit perfectly still, listen to my own breathing, and be content in each moment that comes. The one little word that captures this feeling for me is settle.  It is not settle ..read more
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